Charlotte’s P.O.V
Many people thought I was stoic.
And honestly, I would say they were right.
Stoicness was ingrained to me as one of the warriors of the Golden Circle pack and after spending fifteen days locked in a tomb filled with scorpions, I became one of the toughest in our faction.
But one thing that always slid through my impenetrable mask was my failure to impress my adoptive father. Alpha Jonathan would never see me as anything more than the scared little girl he saved five years ago.
As blurry as the memory of that day was, I could never forget Alpha Jonathan’s face, shrouded in a cloak as he lifted me from beneath the podium into his arms before I passed out.
I was thirteen when it happened. The attack that claimed the lives of every single member of my pack. The attack that I would never remember no matter how much I meditated and sobbed.
During my older brother Liam’s coronation, a group of unidentified wolves launched a deadly attack and I was the only survivor. In all honestly, I should have perished alongside everyone else but my brother shoved me under the podium to protect me, his last valiant act of leadership. He didn’t deserve to die.
Although I barely remembered everyone, I knew my older brother had been good. Yet those wolves did not care. They slaughtered both young and old, soaking our land with blood.
Yet, every time I tried to remember, it felt as if my head was being sawed into two halves. The pain becomes so vivid, blocking any visual recollection of the tragedy. I could smell the fear, taste blood, hear the earth-shattering screams and even fucking feel it, but I never saw it.
How does one avenge their family when you have no fucking idea who did it?
Gritting my teeth, I shook off the remnants of the thoughts that always seemed to tear my brain apart and glared at the man in front of me. “You fight like a bitch, viper. You really think you wanna duel with me?”
I unsheathed my sword and resumed my duel pose–legs splayed, one foot firmly planted and sword raised. There were boos around me from the men gathered to watch us fight and I just rolled my eyes.
Ever since I was promoted to senior warrior in the Golden Circle creed–a role no woman had held before–there had been no shortage of duel challenges. To the male warriors, my success was a humiliation. They took it personally, their fragile egos demanding retribution and today was no different.
“You think you’re so tough, don’t you?” my duel partner snarled at me, raising his own sword too. “You may suck the council’s cock to get a place in the creed but you’ll never be one of us! You’ll never be a true member of the Golden Circle Pack!”
“Blah blah blah, big talker with a small ego.” My voice dripped with venomous sarcasm as I made the first move, but he was quick to give a counterattack. “I’ve seen more convincing growls on a puppy.”
His eyes flashed red and he slashed his sword at me. I spun, ducking just in time to avoid the sharp metal swinging at my head.
There was no time to think, only to react. Fighting was like an old dance, with all the steps one with my body, like a third instinct. Every voice from the onlookers faded as I tunnel-visioned on the fucker.
“The…clang…Alpha…clang…merely…clang…tolerates…clang…you!” my duel partner, Viper, suddenly spat at me as he broke each word with a hit on my sword, making me lose focus.
The fucker took full advantage of that. Slamming his sword against mine, it fell from my hands and he stepped forward, ramming his hard broad shoulders right into my unguarded chest.
Choking on a breath, I staggered a few steps.. While I was still momentarily stunned, Viper shifted into his wolf, ran towards me and knocked me right down into the ground, stealing the next breath from my lungs in shock. What the hell? I was still trying to process when he shifted back and stood over me where I laid wheezing on the ground.
“I don’t know what Alpha Jonathan sees in you. I’m a better warrior than you are. You damned loser kid, barely two decades old.” he spat.
“You fucking cheated! Shifting is not allowed in duels!” I could only glare at him as he ignored my words and walked away from me.
This was the first time he caught me unawares and it was only because his words had stung me.
Suddenly tears began to push behind my lids and I blinked them back. Viper was right about one thing: Alpha Jonathan only tolerated me. In all my life in his pack, he has never particularly shown any affection for me. My wolf believed I should be searching for my true mate, but I saw only my adoptive father as my true love. So I wouldn’t stop. I would grow stronger and prove myself as a valuable warrior to the Golden Circle Pack and one day confess my feelings to Alpha Jonathan.
Regaining ounces of my strength, I dragged myself off the ground as rage burned in my chest. The bastard was still sauntering off as if he won fair and square. I found my sword and quickly closed my fingers around the hilt.
He played dirty. Fine. Two can fucking tango.
Before he had a chance to gloat further, I lunged at him with a war cry. The butt of my sword slammed into the back of his head and his groan of shock was music to my ears.
“Fucking bitch!” I heard him shriek.
“Cheap shot, huh? Here’s one for you.” I snarled, watching him clutch his head and stagger forward. As he tried to gain back momentum, I kicked his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Now who’s the fucking loser?” I hissed, tossing my sword and taking out my boot knife before mounting him in one swift motion. My knees dug into his chest, pinning him down as I pressed the blade of my knife against his neck. The sharp edge bit into his skin, drawing a thin line of blood. I wanted to run it in deeper, slice out his fucking tongue and feed it to the pigs so he would never speak to me like that ever again.
Viper’s teeth clenched, his jaw working as though he wanted to spit in my face. “DO it,” he sneered. “I. Dare. You.”
